Monthly Archives: September 2012

Recently a new Facebook feature rolled out of beta that can provide brands with a viable process to connect their offline CRM databases to those users on Facebook. Now, this process of custom audience list targeting has just rolled out to all brands who advertise on Facebook.

This new feature can be a significant enabler for a brand, as most have larger customer databases outside of the social sphere (after years of traditional CRM outreach) than they have engaged on their social properties.

With Facebook’s new targeting capabilities, brands can bridge the connection of their offline data through social channels. By targeting the exact individuals that the brand already has or had a relationship with, the impact of the targeted reach can be greatly enhanced.

With the new Power Editor, the brand has the ability to identify “who” they want to target beyond the general parameters that have been available. This applies to current customers, prospects, people who like specific products, lapsed users, etc… The ability to take these offline lists and create custom audiences via Facebook’s ad platform is a major step forward for the platform and allows a greater level of targeting to a base that has already established a self-selected affinity towards the brand at some point in that customers brand life cycle.

Brands can create lists based on email addresses, phone numbers, etc.. that represent the groups of people in a CRM database. These elements are then matched to Facebook’s own records to create the custom lists.

In terms of ownership of the data, Facebook does not receive the brands customer data fully. The data is protected and resides on your local computer, then the data is imported via hashes. Facebook then matches the hashes to it’s own records and deletes the data. All that remains is a custom target list. This list is then tied to the individuals Facebook ad account. No other advertisers can use the list.

My recent discussions with Facebook state that their clients have seen a higher ROI based on beta interactions. This applied to higher conversion rates, lower cost per fan, lead or reengaged users than with other campaigns.

Brands have the ability to create unlimited lists at no cost and have the ability to keep audiences up to date. One additional benefit, is that it is possible to map the custom lists to those who have and have not liked the page.

This option is not available at the page level, but only as part of the advertising platform. The ability to marry offline data with Facebook’s social graph to further amplify existing connections is a key addition to the platform.

For those of us who follow all things Apple, today’s event in San Francisco is the focus of the day. With the upcoming release of the iPhone5, millions of iPhone users will be upgrading to the new device.

Apple just announced that the iPhone5 will be available for pre-order on 9-14 and will ship/be available on 9-21.

Here is a quick rundown of what’s available with the upcoming release:

The form factor is thinner (18%) and lighter (20%) with a panoramic screen with higher resolution

Aluminum body with a glass screen, supposedly the thinnest smartphone on the market and once again will be available in Black & White

Speed increases immensely based on the new A6 processor, which Apple claims is 2x faster than the 4S

iPhone5 will support LTE connectivity, which will add speed increases to the 4S

iPhone5 will have a dual channel 5GHz Wi-Fi

The screen is 16:9 with a 4 inch panoramic screen with it’s touchscreen sensor built into the display

Increased battery life – 8 hours 3G, 8 hours LTE browsing

Camera updates – 5 element lens, 8 megapixel with panorama mode

Video face detection – improved image stabilization with the ability to tag people automatically in videos

3 Microphones – Front, Back & Bottom which should improve voice calls

One of the more controversial elements is the new Lightning connector, which replaces the current 30 pin connector that we all have across generations and are moving towards an 8 pin connector

Linkedin has proven to be an incredible asset for B2B Social Media Strategy & execution. With Hubspot defining Linkedin (45%) as the most effective B2B source for lead generation followed by Facebook at 33%.

Previously, this was the view of a Linkedin Company page. Simple CTA’s outlining an overview of the company, the ability to follow, updates and potential connections.

The older services tab provided an opportunity for 3rd party validation of a companies services.

The new look and feel features a streamlined user experience that structures content in a more natural manner. You will notice the company updates look more like a traditional social stream with added capabilities for companies tied to easier sharing & additional emphasis on visual imagery. And for the first time, company pages are now available via Linkedin’s mobile app.

The services tab also received slight adjustment to further align a consistent look & feel with the core brand hub.

The changes coincide with a network wide emphasis on streamlining the overall experience and enabling brands to connect with followers on a deeper more targeted basis.
Linkedin has traditionally been a network reserved for B2B targeting, but with more emphasis targeting individuals who leverage the powerful business network, the ability to drive 3rd party validation, targeted advertising that can support cross social channel promotion, and a streamlined interface to further drive engagement, Linkedin should be considered when developing a cross channel social strategy that includes targeting individuals that are key to Linkedin’s user base.

BlackFin360 Archives

Tom Edwards, Ad Age Marketing Technology Trailblazer and Chief Digital Officer, Agency @ Epsilon analyzes best practices and points of difference between Google Actions across the Google Assistant ecosystem as well as Amazon Alexa Voice Services.

In this video, Tom compares and contrasts Amazon Alexa Skills with Google Actions and discusses feature differences, outlines best practices associated with deploying skills and actions as well as key points to consider before submitting for final approvals.

Tom also discusses driving skill and action discovery as well as strategic thoughts tied to going beyond tactical utility towards full ecosystem considerations.

In this video, Tom analyzes the new features that are available as well as discusses topics such as the shift towards social messaging, the role of YouTube’s Uptime application and a preview towards the world of immersive co-viewing with YouTube in virtual reality.